


Enchanted

by WhatTheF0x



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, Master/Servant, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, russians are siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2018-12-16 17:28:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11833545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatTheF0x/pseuds/WhatTheF0x
Summary: In a fantasy world in a fantasy time, Victor is the second heir to a dukedom. So no one would care if he fell in love with his personal valet right?Magic was a genetic that has long been gone due to it being a recessive trait or so they thought.~They will grow up and this will switch to explicit in future chapters with explicit sex scenes. but for now I'll just put it at M.~





	1. Does the sun know the light it gives,

Swords clashed together, a loud clanging throughout the small training field. The grass kicking out from under the feet of the two armored men. For a brief moment they are evenly matched, but it only takes a second before one of them slides his sword up, hitting the other with the butt of the sword and with a kick sending him to the dirt. He thrusts his sword down, stopping right before his sword stabs into the others throat.

They heave, taking in deep breaths when the standing man removed his helmet. Silver hair falling out, he fluffs the short strands in the back, tossing the front out of his face.

“Your footwork is sloppy Victor, stop crossing your feet, you’re not dancing,” Yakov shouts from the sidelines.

“Yeah,” Victor shouts back reaching down to the fallen man to help him up. “Do you hear this Chris, it doesn’t matter how many times I knock you down it’s never enough”

“He’s right though,” Chris takes off his helmet and tosses it over to the side. “Just because you can take me down doesn’t mean you can take down an actual enemy.”

Victor was the second son of the Nikiforov Dukedom, the western world was governed by four Dukedoms. The Nikiforov, Crispino and Leroy Families all lived in peace for a long time, able to discuss laws that they believe should go into effect and make a unanimous decision. But the 4th family could not live peacefully. For many years now they have been trying to accumulate new land. Although the three dukedoms could work together to wipe the outlier off the map they did not want to do such a thing. Murder and war was not the solution. Instead they were cut off from trade and protection from the rest of the world. So the 4th dukedom, the Ocelot Family fell from power. Occasionally they get an army together to try and take over some land but nothing has been successful. As long as the three dukedoms have a strong militia they will never be able to disrupt the peace that they worked so hard to protect.

That is why Victor was important. He was the second son, so he would never be the diplomat, the one to inherit the title of duke. However he was to be the head of the knights someday, so he had to be the best fighter in his country.

“We’re done for today, if you can't focus then why am I wasting my time,” Yakov huffed.

“It's fine, it's fine,” Victor put his helmet back on stepping back into the starting stance for training battles.

Victor always felt like he had to be the best at what he did, no matter what his family threw at him he needed to excel at it. Piano, reading, sword battles, he was always top in his class because he worried if he wasn't no one would notice him anymore. Maybe it was all in his head, the irrational fear of being left behind and forgotten, but it was enough to always have him improving.

He knocked down Chris again.

“I'm starting to think you're going easy on me.”

“Have I ever been easy on you?”

Chris was many things, he was one of the lesser nobles sons, that's how most people know him. He is also one of the quickest rising knights, at age 18 he was already keeping up with the men who had been training for years. But most importantly he was Victor's friend. They had met in one of Chris’s first classes bonding quickly after Chris got into a fight with one of the older boys. After a quick punch in the face knocked Chris out, Victor talked to him, appreciating his bravery and honesty with his feelings. Victor wasn't one to hide how he felt about other people and it was good to see another person who felt the same. He could always rely on Chris to tell him exactly what he was thinking, even if it was not what Victor wanted to hear.

“I guess not,” Victor walked over to the side where Yakov stood and stripped off his

armor. “I'm done for today, can you ask someone to run a bath for me?”

“I'm not your servant, this is why your mother told you to pick a personal valet years ago,” Yakov gritted his teeth.

All members of the high noble family had personal valets by the time they reached 15 except for Victor. It is not like there weren't options. His mother had given him tons of chances of young lesser nobles willing to work for the duke's family. The problem lied with Victor. He did not want just a servant, he wanted a confidant. Someone close to him that he could tell everything, a best friend, someone who could call him out if he got too full of himself, an equal.

Chris was about the closest thing he had to that. And while he was very open with Chris there was definitely still a level of distance between them, like a wall Victor kept up to keep everyone from being too close despite all the honesty between them. It was self sabotage and he knew it, but at the same time couldn't stop himself from keeping everyone out.

“I’ll run you a bath, that way I can join you,” Chris winked. It was empty flirting, Chris was in a long term happy relationship just waiting for the right time to propose, but that did not stop him from teasing his friend.

“Oh is that a promise?” Victor smacked Chris on the butt and ran for the castle. Chris chasing after him.

~

Victor sunk into the warm water of the massive porcelain bathtub. A long sigh escaping his lips as he leaned his head back.

“Is life so rough as a young lord?” Chris asked, stripping his own clothing off, bruises on his chest from all his training. He worked hard and it showed. Where as Victors skin was hardly marked at all, his skill allowed him to avoid unnecessary damage.

“I’m so bored Chris,” Victor closed his eyes. Logically he had no real reason to be complaining, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing from his life. Was it love? He had this longing for someone but he did not know who this someone was, it was just an image in his head that couldn’t quite come into focus. Like trying to remember someone he never met.

“You’re always bored, I don’t know what you want me to do about that,” Chris began washing the sweat from the days training off his body.

Victor stayed still with his eyes closed, he felt a pull in his body, calling him to an action but he didn’t know what. It was driving him crazy, making his body restless as he tried harder and harder to remain still.

“Do you want me to wash you?” Chris asked snapping Victor from his turmoil.

The young lord nodded and moved closer to his friend. Normally this would be a task for his valet, Victor hadn’t washed himself his whole life until he outgrew the nannies. At that point he had to learn how to do it himself and he figured it out just fine, but there was still something very comforting about another person doing it for him.

“Hey Chris, do you ever feel like there is a part of you missing? Like something you're reaching out for that is calling you to find it?” Victor felt stupid putting his thoughts into words but Chris was never one to judge him before.

“Sounds like love, I feel that way all the time when I’m away from Masumi,” Chris wrapped his arms around Victor’s shoulders and nuzzled into his hair. “I miss him I wish I was with him right now.”

“Hey get off of me,” Victor laughed pulling away from his clinging friend. 

It sounded like love, but the problem was there was no one for Victor to be in love with. How could he be in love with someone that he did not know

~

After his bath it did not take long for Yakov to find him again. His eyes rolled as he waited to hear what lesson he was going to be put to next. It was always one lesson after another, never a moment to just have fun.

“There you are, Lilia is waiting for you, you don’t have anything else planned with me, you’re going to go work on your language skills.” His words washed over Victor who was still thinking about what Chris said. Something was calling for Victor and at that moment the eldest sibling had just walked out of his office, dressed to leave the castle.

“Georgi, where are you heading?” Victor asked running over to his side and following him down the hallway.

“Business, the orphanage's monthly budget needs to get finished,” 

Victor met his eyes and pleaded with him to invite him along, thankfully Georgi got the message.

“ I could use your assistance if you are not busy,” Georgi said rather reluctantly but also wanting to help his brother.

“Ah well I did have lessons but if you need me to join you I can push them aside for another day,” Victor played along. They were horrible actors but Yakov did not care enough to try and fight them on it.

“Alright but tomorrow you will have extra lessons with Lilia, no excuses,” Yakov turned around stomping away, probably off to bother another Nikiforov sibling.

“You owe me,” Georgi grumbled, heading out the front door of the castle.

“Of course of course, anything, anytime”

~

Wheels rolled across the cobble roads, shaking the carriage which had now fallen silent after some small light conversation. Victor sat across from his older brother Georgi, staring out the window as the countryside passed them, looking but not really seeing. Somehow that felt like a metaphor for his life. It was passing over him while he was nothing but a bystander. Georgi was the one with all the potential, the first born son, the heterosexual son too. Victor was only a year younger but it never seemed to matter how many skills he presented with, he did not have the knack to be the bureaucrat that Georgi was, and after he came out as gay, with no way to pass on the bloodline, his parents did all but gave up on him. So he did what he wanted, he never had to do what anyone expected of him, his life was passing over him every day. 

He still had this feeling in his heart like someone was calling out to him, and the longer he thought about it the more it stirred in his chest.

“Georgi,” Victor broke the silence.

Georgi made a grunt to indicate he was listening.

“Have you ever been in love?” 

“Where is this coming from?” Georgi snorted, laughing at the other man. “Has someone finally caught the heart of the illusive Victor Nikiforov.”

At previous formal events many young nobles had approached Victor. He was a young, single, gorgeous man that men and women alike swooned over. Despite this he had never taken a real interest in anyone. He always believed that when he was in love he would know it, something inside him would shift and suddenly the world would stop when he met the one. But that never happened. Now he was struggling to figure out what this fluttering in his chest was.

“That would require me to have met someone new,” Victor tried to laugh it off but he knew it was weak.

“There is no such thing as love, people are always after something of their own gain” Georgi’s words were cold but he was the closest age sibling he had and the one who could best understand his situation. Georgi had already admitted he was too focused on work to be interested in love. Someday their father would pick a wife for him based on social benefits or something and that would be that. Victor was not so cynical though, something inside him remained hopeful.

“Is it really like that?” Victor wanted to believe there was more to love than that, it couldn’t be. He couldn't look at Chris and his boyfriend and not see how in love they are. So why would that be any different for him.

Victor patted the large brown poodle sleeping on his lap, her eyes opened looking up at her owner for a moment before closing again. Victor smiled at his sweet dog before looking over at his brother.

“Do you have to bring that dog with you everywhere you go,” Georgi scoffed. He meant well, and was truly a good brother at his heart, but sometimes he would have a tough way of saying things.

“Come on Georgi, you know Makkachin is my best girl, I could never leave her home alone.” Victor squashed his dog's face a bit as she rolled over to expose her belly for some pats, which he did not hesitate to give her.

With an eye roll Georgi was quiet for a moment, he always took too long for his comebacks to be witty, they always just felt forced. Thankfully it seemed this time he just let it pass and they sat in silence the rest of the trip.

They pulled up to the building, the horse whinnying as the carriage rolled to a stop, thanks to the Nikiforov family it was a very large and nice kept building. That was something Victor appreciated about his father, despite his flaws by not always being there for his children, he made sure all the children in his dukedom were taken care of, even if they did not have families of their own. The carriage door opened and Makkachin bounded out the door, running up to the woman who waited for Victor and Georgi. She was a warm round old woman, her skin like a soft prune, it seemed natural for the nuns to take care of the orphans.

“My Lords,” She bowed. “Welcome to the House of Helena, if you will follow me please,”

the Nun turned around and lead the young men into the building.

A couple of small children, no older than 7, running around with a ball, bouncing it off the walls. All the children were dressed well enough for being without a family. The country donated plenty of clothing but sometimes it was not easy to find something that fit perfectly. Most of the children's clothing was either too big or too small.

“Kids please, not in the house, take it outside,” the Nun huffed and held the door open while the kids ran past and out the door.

“We should have brought Yuri, he would love it here, so many other children to play with,” Victor smiled a wide opened mouth smile. Yuri the youngest sibling in the Nikiforov Family at age 8 had always been a bit of a spit fire. Having trouble making friends with the other kids because he always had to one up them.

“As if, Yuri likes 2 people in this world, Grandpa, and that other noble boy, what's his name?”

“Otabek?”

“Yeah that one, seems like the only person Yuri doesn't want to maim,” Georgi followed the Nun into the office where folders of paperwork covered the desk.

Victors stomach dropped looking at it, he suddenly felt like he would rather be back home practicing sword fighting. This is where he was not envious of Georgi, sure he was inheriting the title, and technically the land, and the power, but these were all things Victor could still benefit from without having to do all this boring stuff. He didn't need power, he wanted two things, life and love. Power was not on that list.

The elder brother must have noticed Victor’s sudden change in attitude. Not two minutes into the discussion of this monthly budget and Georgi turned to Victor suddenly.

“I can’t have you in here, you're distracting my thoughts, go play with Makka outside or something,” he wasn’t shouting, but it surely was an order. An order that Victor did not hesitate to follow. 

He often compared himself to a spare button, and wondered if his younger siblings felt the same. Because Georgi filled all the requirements for an heir there was no need for Victor, he was just a spare. If anything were to happen to Georgi, with the threats from a neighboring country that wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility, Victor was going to be the one to replace him. But it was highly unlikely. So Victor, the spare button would remain unused, looking pretty but not being needed.

Yuri and Mila were probably too young to be thinking of such things, what 8 and 11 year old thinks about their purpose in the noble family. But Victor at age 20 was definitely starting to realize he was just a spare.

Makkachin barked, reeling Victor out of his thoughts. He had wandered outside. It was a surprisingly warm day for the fall, the sun rarely out in this part of the country, yet here it was today. Way too nice of a day to be spent inside doing paper work. Victor picked up a stick off the ground and threw it far, Makkachin bolted after it, almost tripping over her own excitement. She passed the stick and kept running.

“Makka?” Victor called out to her but she ignored him. He began running after her, she turned around and play bowed. “Come now Makkachin” 

He caught up to her petting her face warmly before she bounded off again, this time heading toward the small pond. A teenager was kneeling by the water.

“Hey, heads up,” Victor called out chasing after on the heels of his dog.

The teen stood up turning around just in time to receive paws to the chest. He staggered back nearly losing his footing when Victor grabbed onto his hand pulling him back. The younger man slammed face first into Victor's chest, to which he immediately pushed away. Makkachin had found her way behind them so when the teen stepped backward he lost footing for a second time. Victor still holding onto the other fell with him, splashing hard into the shallow of the pond.

Victor squints opening his eyes, the sunlight blinding him a little when suddenly a face appears over him, blocking the light. His eyes focused on the figure in front of him, a beautiful boy with almond eyes and dark eyelashes lining them, the sun making a halo around him, like he was the sun itself. 

“Wow,” Victor exhaled. He had never seen someone so radiant before.


	2. Falling in love would be a great adventure,

The back of Victor’s jacket was completely soaked. It squished uncomfortably against the carriage seat, yet Victor couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he watched the orphanage fade into the distance. 

“What’s with that smile,” Georgi kicked at Victor’s shin lightly to get his attention.

“Yuuri,” Victor had found out the teenagers name was Yuuri after the Nun shouted it.

It must have looked terrible to have the orphan leaning over the young lord in the water. Victor had explained it was just an accident but that didn’t stop the Nun from scolding Yuuri. To which then Georgi grabbed Victor dragging him back to the carriage.

“Our brother?”

“No, the orphan, his name is Yuuri,” Victor’s face felt warm thinking of the soft ivory skin of the other boy. He never had this feeling before, his stomach was twisting but his chest felt light and his face was getting more flushed with every thought. “Do you think I can keep him?”

“You’re a bit young to be adopting a child, plus Yuuri is like 4 years younger than you if that, doesn’t exactly make you a good father figure,” Georgi talked so logically but Victor’s heart was beating out of his chest thinking about Yuuri.

“Then I’ll marry him.”

“You aren’t marrying an orphan.”

“But Georgi I gotta,” Victor proclaimed. It felt that way, like he needed Yuuri in his life. This orphan had stolen his heart with just a look. It was the moment Victor had been waiting for his whole life.

“What is with that language? This is why you should have spent today with Lilia. You have awful manners,” Georgi crossed his arms and looked away trying to end the conversation.

Victor pouted, he knew Georgi was right about one thing, there is no way his family would allow him to marry an orphan. A high noble such as himself was supposed to marry another noble. 

“I know...You think you’re in love… It will pass,” Georgi felt like he was kicking his brother, but he was trying to protect him.

Victor felt his heart breaking, he couldn’t accept that. The feeling in his gut was telling him this was what every moment in his life has been leading up to. There was no point in arguing with Georgi at this second. Georgi was already mad enough at Victor for getting his clothing wet and Victor did not want to anger his elder brother even further.

~

That night Victor was restless, he couldn’t stop his thoughts from running wild about Yuuri. He wondered what he was like, what did he do on a day to day basis. Who were his friends at the orphanage? Was there someone he liked? It would be normal for a teenage boy to develop crushes. That made Victor's heart sink a bit, he had gotten so caught up in how he felt he did not stop to think for a moment for how Yuuri felt. They had barely exchanged a few words. Yuuri apologized to Victor for knocking him over, Victor apologized for Makkachin knocking into him in the first place. Before they could have anymore conversation it was interrupted by the Nun and Georgi, but in that moment Victor had felt a connection between them and he hoped Yuuri had felt it too. 

Victor had never felt like this before and the idea that Yuuri could not share his feelings was haunting him now. 

“Urg,” he let out a long frustrated sigh. It took him a long time to fall asleep that night as he kept having visions of Yuuri’s face popping in front of him and blocking out the sun.

* * *

The next day Chris and Victor were sparring on the training field again, this time without Yakov. Thankfully the mentor was not there for he would be extremely frustrated with Victor's performance today. Victor continuously got knocked flat on his butt over and over again till finally Chris noticed that something was wrong. After taking a few chances to appreciate the change in position.

“Where is your head Victor? I've never gotten the best of you this many times,” Chris sheathed his sword and took off his helmet to signify he was done with this till Victor spilt the beans.

“I met someone,” Victor lifted his body off the ground with a groan, he hadn’t been knocked down so many times even when he was first learning. His mind was just elsewhere.

“What? Where? When? It’s been 12 hours since I saw you last, What did you do?” Chris was confused and rightly so, this is the kind of news you would expect after a party, not after a normal day of training and business.

“After you left, Georgi and I went to the orphanage that’s on the outskirts of the country and-”

“You met someone at an orphanage?” Chris exclaimed. Victor rushed over to him to shush him.

“Yes, now keep your voice down,” Victor sighed, he did not want another maid to hear and suddenly start spreading rumors. It would be the worst if Victor’s father found out.

“Who is he?” Chris whispered this time.

“His name is Yuuri and…” Victor trailed off for a moment. “That’s about all I know actually, but I can feel it, Chris, something’s different with him.” 

Chris smiled warmly and pulled Victor into a hug.

“I’m so happy for you my friend.”

Chris plopped down on the side of the fence, patting the spot of grass next to him.

“Alright then, tell me everything.”

Victor did not hesitate. He sat down and told Chris everything from start to finish. Even what Georgi said in the carriage on their way back.

“Seriously your family still cares about noble status?” Chris groaned.

“I don’t know, father has always been a bit more traditional, I wouldn’t doubt it,” Victor folded his knees up and buried his head in his arms. 

“Well if you can’t marry him, and you certainly can’t adopt him, why don’t you hire him?”

That was something that had not come to Victor's mind before. He had grown so accustomed to not having a servant that it didn’t cross his mind that the spot was still open. Suddenly Victor's heart lifted, just the idea that Yuuri could be by his side in any capacity was more than enough for him, and if he was his valet he could be there for Victor’s whole life. 

“Alright! I’m going to ask him to be my valet,” Victor lept up. This was a whole new realm of possibilities for Victor and it excited him beyond belief. He felt like he needed to rush to Yuuri right now and ask him to spend his life by Victor's side.

“That’s the spirit,” Chris hoisted himself up to stand next to Victor. 

“I better go right now, I still need to get father's approval, and get a room prepared for him,” Victor rambled as he stripped off his armor and put it up in the shed, leaving it a mess for someone else to take care of. 

“One step at a time my Lord,” Chris teased with the title as he picked up Victor’s armor, he will surely be grateful to have someone actually responsible for the young lord. “Go, how long do you think he’s going to wait for you?”

* * *

Yurri could not believe how much he embarrassed himself in front of the young lord. First he knocked him into the water, then he could hardly speak. Not exactly the best first impression. But Victor had left an impression on Yuuri that was for sure. His silver hair, and sky blue eyes looking up at him with a wide expression. ‘Wow’ what did that even mean? Surely it must have been a ‘wow I can’t believe this bratty orphan knocked me down’ but it didn’t seem like that. Victor’s expression was soft after that and Yuuri couldn’t handle the happiness in his chest to have someone look at him that way.

As an orphan not a lot of people look at you, when families did come in looking for a child they were looking for a young one, Yuuri was past his prime to be adopted. Now the best he could hope for was to just grow out of the system and find a job doing some sort of manual labor so he could live out a small unassuming life.

The way Victor looked at him was so kind and warm, but Yuuri could not help but have the pessimism in the back of his mind. There is no way a young lord like that would be looking at him as anything more than an orphan. Victor was just being kind because he’s naturally a good person. There is no way such a handsome man would look at Yuuri and feel the way Yuuri was feeling about Victor. But that didn’t stop Yuuri from imagining what it would be like anyway. 

He remembered the way Victor's chest felt against his hands when he pushed away from him and imagined what it would be like to keep his hands there longer, to run up and across his shoulders and caress his muscles. Yuuri felt his pants tightening and groaned at the growing discomfort. This needed to be a problem for another day, he did not want to think about what these thoughts meant for him. He did not want to be pining after a lord, a lord he was never going to see again.

Yuuri could not believe how much he slept in, the sun was already halfway up the sky when he finally dragged himself out of bed. It was probably thoughts of Victor that kept him from staying asleep. Every couple hours he would be jolted awake from another wet dream. Finally he was able to stay asleep but that resulted in vastly oversleeping. Not that he had anything to do at the orphanage. He helped when and where he could but there were no specific chores needed to be done. 

So he dressed and headed toward the main room. He heard the bark before he saw the large poodle running towards him again. Memories of yesterday flashed in front of him as he was tackled to the ground, this time without Victor to catch him he fell hard on his butt.

“Oww, hey girl, you look just like Victor’s dog,” Yuuri smiled gently, petting the dog softly.

“She is Lord Victor’s dog,” one of the younger orphan girls spoke up, looking up from her drawing. “He showed up like 30 minutes ago, he’s with Sister Elizabeth now.” 

“What?” Yuuri's heart skipped, Victor was back, what was he doing? Yuuri scrambled to his feet, running towards the Nun’s office. This had to be a dream, he was still dreaming, Victor was here again.

He skidded to a stop outside of the office as a wave of realization washed over him. Victor was back to finish the business he was here for yesterday before Yuuri knocked him into the pond. It was his fault Victor had to waste his time coming back here. His hand hesitated on the door handle. He was never going to know why Victor was there if he didn’t ask. He twisted the door handle and pushed open the door.

“Sister Elizabeth,” He said cautiously, all the kids were welcome into her office but he still felt the need to be polite.

Victor stood by the desk talking with the Nun, he turned when Yuuri entered the room and a smile spread across his face, Yuuri was just as beautiful the first time he saw him. He had to hold back from saying ‘wow’ again, although it was the first thought that came to mind. Victor wished he had rehearsed this more but he had left so quickly to the orphanage he hadn’t given what he would actually say much thought.

“Yuuri, I would like for you to be my valet,” Victor's voice was surprisingly smooth and confident for how he felt in his heart.

“Huh?” Yuuri could not believe what he had just heard. ‘Valet’ what? This was definitely a dream, there was no way. Yuuri had accepted where his position was in life, he was an orphan, a forgettable body that was never going to do anything of importance. It wasn’t sad to him it was just the cards he was dealt and he was happy to just have a roof over his head and to be able to eat every day. Yet here Victor was, offering him something completely different than he ever expected.

“My valet, you know, a personal servant,” Victor went into explaining his duties. “You would do my laundry, serve my meals, run my baths.”

“Who would want to do that?” Yuuri snorted laughing lightly. He had never had any responsibilities his whole life, he couldn’t imagine becoming a servant being an upgrade. But it was and he knew it. It was a great honor to be the personal servant of a lord. It was just out of Yuuri's world. Yuuri was nothing he was lower than a servant.

Victors stomach dropped at the rejection. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up. He was just so sure that Yuuri would agree and they would go home together right away and Victor could look at him all day.

“Is that your answer?” Victor asked, keeping his nerves out of his voice.

Yuuri didn’t have to think about it. No matter how unappealing Victor pitched the job offer to him, the idea that Yuuri could be by Victor's side was mind blowing. It was beyond what he could ever imagine his life to be, and he wanted that with all his heart.

“I’ve never been a servant before,” Yuuri admitted. “I’ve never done laundry, I hardly can bathe myself right, but if you will have me”

Yuuri's voice was shaking at the last bit, 

“I’ll give you everything I have,” Yuuri didn’t know how true that statement was until he felt it come off his lips. He did not care what his role was he just wanted to be close to Victor. A friend or a servant or a lover, none of it mattered as long as Victor was nearby it would be enough.

Victor smiled and extended a hand out to Yuuri to shake, Yuuri reached back to accept the hand. Victor’s was as strong and warm as he remembered it to be, Victor pulled Yuuri’s body closer and gave him a gentle hug.

“Thank you,” and for once, Victor did not feel lonely anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Planning weekly updates, I'll let you know if anything changes in that plan


	3. Home is where you ran away to,

Yuuri packed what little possessions he had into a duffle bag. Toothbrush, a couple of the clothes that fit him from the donation bin, that was all that was actually his. Everything else in his shared room belonged to the orphanage. He didn’t know what to tell the other children. It wasn’t like he was adopted, he was just leaving.

The two younger children he shared a room with came in looking at Yuuri packing and Victor sitting on the bed.

“My lord,” they greeted Victor, bowing their heads before looking at Yuuri. 

“Are you being taken away?” The taller of the two boys asked. Yuuri had gotten in trouble after Victor first arrived but only with the Nun. Victor did not bring up their encounter yesterday at all only gushing over how much Yuuri will love the castle. Yuuri’s stomach dropped, he hoped he was not in trouble. Victor was so kind and welcoming.

“Of course not, he is coming to live with me now,” Victor washed away Yuuri’s worries instantly. Yuuri sighed in relief and returned to picking the clothing off the floor.

He kept waiting for it, for his body to jolt awake and the day to begin but it never did. Even as he got into the carriage and watched the orphanage fade into the distance, and the trip back into the town, and pulled up in front of the castle. He never woke up, but it still felt too good to be true.

The carriage door swung open, Makkachin immediately running out the door and toward the castle. Victor gestured for Yuuri to get out first. With a deep breath he got out of the carriage and was immediately overwhelmed with the grandeur of everything. The orphanage was large but this was extravagant and where the orphanage was old, everything here looked strong and new. Yuuri felt so out of place, just looking at his clothing compared to the servants walking around was a massive difference. 

He fidgeted with his sleeves that hung too far over his knuckles and Victor watched with a soft smile, he wanted to give Yuuri everything and that started with the castle.

“What are you thinking about?” Victor asked, Yuuri's eyes were wide as he looked around and Victor couldn’t tell one thought from another from the boys face.

“It’s just, wow,” Yuuri smiled. His heart was going crazy, half with nerves, half with excitement as he realized he lived here now.

“Yeah,” Victor returned the smile, nodding at his new valet.

It did not take long for the welcome wagon to arrive, meaning a young girl in a beautiful day dress was running toward them at top speed.

“Victor!” She shouted jumping and wrapping her arms around Victor's neck to give him a hug. Victor spun her around before lowering her feet back to the ground. 

Yuuri smiled, it did not take much to assume that was his sister. That warmed his heart, he always wanted a sibling. He occasionally had dreams where he had an older sister, but the nuns said that Yuuri was found alone. So the dreams were just that, dreams.

“This is Mila, the one and only sister,” Victor pat the top of her head. 

Mila curtsied before reaching forward and bringing Yuuri into a hug. Yuuri froze for a moment before it felt warm and comforting and he returned the hug.

“I’m so excited to have a new person around the castle, are you going to play with me?” Mila’s smile widened to show teeth as she batted her eyelashes up at Yuuri.

Yuuri looked to Victor for help.

“He will probably be too busy Mila, Yuuri here is my new valet,” Victor pulled Yuuri back from Mila and wrapped his arms around Yuuri's shoulders now.

Yuuri felt his face flush, why did Victor have to touch him so casually, it made his brain melt like butter.

“Yuri?” Mila questioned.

“Da?” A voice spoke up. 

Yuuri turned to see a petite little boy stomping up. He carried himself like he owned the place, and hell maybe he did. His hair was gold and his eyes narrow, sizing up Yuuri the closer he got. A slightly older boy walked behind him, for being young he still showed strength. Yuuri felt like if they worked together they could probably easily kick his ass.

“Hello?” Yuuri spoke up.

“Who is this pig?” The blonde boy snapped, jamming a finger in Yuuri’s direction.

“This is my new valet, his name is Yuuri, isn’t that cute?” Victor kept his arm around Yuuri.

The blonde boy wrinkled his nose, folding his arms in front of his chest.

“No, I’m Yuri, we don’t need two Yuris in the same castle,” Yuri stomped closer to Yuuri. “Why don’t you just go back to whatever dirt hole you crawled out of, loser!”

Yuuri whinced, Yuri was such a contrast to Victor. Where Victor was very warm, Yuri was very cold, Victor was welcoming, Yuri was closed off. 

“Stop being mean, Yuri,” Victor flicked the younger boy on the forehead. “Although it will be difficult to tell you two apart by name, maybe we should just call you, Yurio?”

Yuri covered his forehead where he was hit and scowled at Victor.

“No way, I was here first that’s so unfair, I should be the only Yuri,” his voice always at top volume.

The other young boy finally stepped forward after remaining quiet and still for such a long time Yuuri nearly forgot he was there.

“You’re my only Yuri,” He offered calmly, wrapping his arms around Yurio.

Yurio’s expression shifted entirely, he went from having claws and teeth bared to being dewey eyed and smiling. 

“Thanks Otabek,” Yurio turned to Otabek, it looked like he was just giving him a hug, when suddenly he jumped up and wrapped his legs around Otabek’s waist. The older caught him and gave him a pat on the back. “I want a snack, let’s go,” Yurio snapped and Otabek carried him back off to the castle.

“That is my younger brother, he is really feisty but I promise he does get nicer,” Victor patted Yuuri's shoulder a couple times in comfort, a bit ashamed of how his brother had acted when Victor was trying his hardest to help Yuuri feel comfortable. This was a big change, Victor knew that and did not want to push Yuuri through more than he could handle. But Yuri was going to find out sooner or later and the later he found out the more angry he would be.

“It’s okay, I’m the invader, I know that,” Yuuri’s voice sounded sad but he did not mean it that way. It was just the truth, he was a random person stealing Yuri’s older brother away.

“I like you,” Mila shouted, smiling with her hand behind her back coyly. “Has he met Georgi yet?”

“Not personally,” Victor shook his head.

“Georgi?” Yuuri asked.

“My older brother.” Victor stepped back from Yuuri finally. “Come on now, let’s get you to your room.”

Before Yuuri could bend down to pick up his stuff a voice caught their attention one last time.

“Ciao ciao” The jovial voice chimed in. “Don’t you touch that bag, I’ll carry it in for you”

“Oh it’s no problem I’ve got it,” Yuuri picked it up throwing it over his shoulder. He looked up to see an older man with long hair and the biggest eyebrows he has ever seen on a person.

“Yuuri this is Celestino, he is the head butler, the one all the maids report to for daily duties,” Victor would be lying if he said he wasn’t enjoying this, he felt like he was showing Yuuri off to every new person. Every time Yuuri met someone new Victor felt like he was saying ‘Is this not the most beautiful person you have ever seen’.

“Oh, do I?” Yuuri asked, he still had no idea how this whole thing was supposed to work. Victor explained some of his duties but it was not like Yuuri had ever done any of those things or knew proper etiquette in the castle. Who reports to who? Who does he call lord? Is it disrespectful to walk in front of Victor? Yuuri walked fast naturally that may be a problem if Victor is a slow walker. Yuuri's thoughts were bouncing off the walls when Victor as usual cleared them instantly.

“No, you just do as I ask, stay close to me Yuuri, can you do that?” Victor’s voice was as gentle as ever.

The blood pooled in Yuuri's cheeks and he nodded vigorously. He did not know if he would ever get used to being this close to him, but if it was what Victor asked he would do it.

“If you will follow me,” Celestino gestured over his shoulder and turned around. “Chris had told everyone that Victor was likely bringing someone home today.”

This time it was Victor's turn to blush, he was trying so hard to seem cool in front of Yuuri and Celestino and Chris just outed him for being a total love struck puppy who wanted to bring his new boyfriend home.

But Yuuri was not his boyfriend, Victor had to remind himself that. Yuuri agreed to be his valet, nothing more. Still Victor wanted to impress his new partner. 

* * *

The bedroom was larger than Yuuri had ever seen, the four poster bed did not have any bed coverings on it, but that was soon being remedied by a couple of maids walking into the room behind them. The wardrobe was huge, Yuuri did not think he would ever have enough clothing to fill that. All in all it was way too grand of a space, Yuuri’s brain could not process it.

“This is the best we could do for my valet?” Victor pouted, unaware of how grand the room actually was to Yuuri.

“It was the closest room available to yours, Victor,” Celestino sighed. He had thought about this in advance. Give Yuuri a larger room on the opposite wing of the castle or give him a slightly smaller room closer to Victor.

Victor’s face lit up when he noticed that Yuuri would literally be across the hall from him. 

“I’ve never had a room of my own before,” Yuuri spoke up, a lump in his throat as he tried to hold back tears. It was too much. Victor was too much and he did not know how to handle the flood of happiness rushing over him.

This was more than he could have imagined and he had no idea how it got to this. Yesterday he was playing with the frogs in the pond, today he was at the castle with his own bedroom.

Victor was not sure how to respond, he could see Yuuri was on the verge of tears but he did not know what he was supposed to do to fix that. Was it even something that needed fixing? He gently put a hand on Yuuri's shoulder.

“Want to start putting your clothing away?” Victor offered, giving Yuuri something to do would distract him from whatever thoughts were causing tears.

Yuuri nodded and padded over to the wardrobe. As expected there was way too much space for Yuuri’s clothing.

“If you need anything or have any questions, I’ll be around,” Celestino offered those parting words and left the room, the maids following out behind him.

Victor was still concerned, looking over Yuuri, he wished he knew what he was thinking and wondered what to say to get his new valet to voice those thoughts to him.

“We can get the tailor in tomorrow to start making you some new clothing,” Victor smiled. He was always smiling and Yuuri was not sure how to deal with that quite yet. No one was ever as happy as Victor seemed to always be.

“New clothing?” Yuuri should have expected that Victor was not going to keep him in these hand me down clothes that were way too big for his small shoulders. Yet at the same time he was not expecting custom made clothing, that had to be too much for just a valet.

“As cute as you are in that sweater I don’t think the other nobles would appreciate it as much as I do,” Victor leaned in closer to Yuuri tilting his chin up to look at him. Victor could not help but be flirty, he knew he was not going to really act on it but when Yuuri was standing there looking precious he could not help but touch his face delicately.

“Yeah, okay,” Yuuri agreed, he heard the rest of the sentence and understood what Victor meant but he was still a bit hung up on that Victor called him cute. He has heard it before, the Nuns used to call him cute all the time, but hearing it from Victor felt so genuine beyond what he was used to.

“Are you serious Victor?” Georgi’s voice ripped them from their moment of peace.

“Yuuri is my valet now, Georgi,” Victor once again had his arm around Yuuri’s shoulder. It was already starting to feel natural for Yuuri to have him there.

Georgi’s expression of anger softened instantly.

“Oh thats wonderful,” He sighed. “It’s about time, you should have chosen a valet years ago”

“What did you think he was doing here?” Victor prodded. Although Victor was the first to rebel and do something against what other people had asked he knew when to listen and this was one of those times. 

“You know what I thought,” Georgi scowled again.

“Do I? You will have to remind me, you know how forgetful I can be,”

Yuuri could not help but feel like he was missing something, and he rightly was. However it was not his place to question the banter between brothers. He closed the wardrobe door, it clicking into place before walking over to the window. They were on the third floor and Yuuri was beyond impressed with the view he was given. It was only over the training grounds but it was still more than he could have ever expected. Victor was always more than he expected. He heard Georgi leave the room.

“Now what?” Yuuri turned around to look at Victor.

* * *

Victor liked to show off and this was the perfect opportunity for him to show off two things at once. Yuuri trotted behind Victor toward the training ground, so far he seemed like more of a shadow than a valet. His first night he could not do much except serve Victor dinner. When it came time to get ready for bed Yuuri could not bring himself to undress Victor.

To Yuuri's relief at the time Victor did not pressure him even though as his master he easily could. Victor was kind, more kind than Yuuri ever believed a lord would be. Victor dismissed Yuuri to his own room and took care of the rest of the night on his own. When Yuuri got back to his own room he discarded his clothing and flopped onto the full sized bed. At the orphanage he only had a twin size and could not believe how much space a bed could have. He slept right in the middle surrounded by more pillows and blankets than he had ever had and it was, for Yuuri, the best sleep he had ever had in his entire life.

Yuuri was supposed to be the one to wake up Victor, but after such a heavy sleep it was Victor who was waking up Yuuri. The valet was startled awake by the beautiful young lord staring down at him.

“How long do you plan to make me wait sleepy head,” Victor smiled as Yuuri pulled the covers up to hide his nudity. “It’s okay it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“I’m sorry I overslept, I’ll be dressed in a second,” Yuuri stammered, looking around the room for his clothing.

“Sure,” Victor said but did not make any motion to leave, as a noble, nudity was nothing new or shameful. Many of the maids had seen Victor naked, and Victor has surely bathed with Chris plenty of times. It was more shameful to be poorly dressed than to be nude. 

“Um, can you at least turn around please,” Yuuri on the other hand was not so used to nudity and wanted some privacy. Again to Yuuri's relief Victor realized what was making Yuuri uncomfortable and remedied it. Victor always seemed to be able to tell what Yuuri was feeling and be flexible to fit Yuuri's needs.

Victor left the room and allowed Yuuri to dress.

Now they were walking up to the training grounds where Chris awaited them, practicing his wrist movements with his sword. Chris turned at the sound of footsteps, his face lighting up when he saw Victor with someone new.

“Oh?” Chris sheathed his sword and walked up to Victor and Yuuri. 

Yuuri followed Victor to the shed where Victor’s armor was hung up on the wall. Victor winked at Chris as they walked past and Yuuri lifted the armor carefully off the wall. It was heavier than he expected but since it was to be on a person it was not too heavy.

“Are you Yuuri then?” Chris asked, Yuuri nodded. He wasn’t shy but he did not feel so much that he had to expend the energy in the socialization.

“It’s okay Yuuri, this is Chris, he is my friend,” Victor lifted his arms while Yuuri put the armor on him and tightened the straps. He had hoped Yuuri and Chris would get along at least a little bit, but Yuuri was suddenly acting cold. “Yuuri?”

“Yeah?” Yuuri looked up at Victor. When Yuuri was at the orphanage he never felt short. He was the oldest and the tallest but now between Victor and Chris he felt tiny. 

“It’s okay Victor,” Chris grabbed Yuuri’s hips delicately from behind. “Let me take a look at you huh?” Chris whispered in his ear.

Yuuri jumped and pulled away, hiding behind Victor.

“What's wrong?” Chris pouted.

“He’s not a knight Chris you can’t just grab him like that,” Victor turned and patted Yuuri on the shoulder. “It’s alright, Chris just meant he wanted to look at your physicality, your muscles and such, it’s common practice among knights.”

Yuuri nodded, there was a lot of things he was going to have to get used to. The practices here were so different. He let Chris pick up his arm and slide his sleeve up. His arms were thin, he never worked out or did any special training. Lifting up his shirt he could not hide the small amount of pudge on his belly, he was not fat, but he did not keep weight off easily so his weight was often fluctuating depending on how active he was for the month. Chris felt his thighs and calves before standing back up.

“Well he will probably never be a knight but at least he’s pretty,” Chris patted Yuuri on the butt before Yuuri returned to strapping Victor’s armor to him.

“He’s not a knight he is my valet,” Victor reminded Chris, pulling away from Yuuri and walking toward the field. First he got to show off Yuuri to Chris, now he wanted to show off his battle skills to Yuuri.

His head was clear now since yesterday, Yuuri was watching him and he was not going to disappoint. He wanted Yuuri to feel safe with him, both emotionally and physically. As Yuuri's master Victor would never let any harm come to Yuuri. 

Chris was giving it his all today too. Or maybe the one day of getting the upperhand on Victor taught him Victor’s faults Chris was smart and naturally gifted as was Victor. However it only took a couple maneuvers before Victor got the upperhand. 

Yuuri stared in awe, Victor made it look beautiful. Just the way his body moved captivated Yuuri in a way he had never felt before. He wished he was strong enough to be standing beside Victor in a fight like Chris could. Yuuri knew his own strengths, but that was something no one was ever allowed to see, and he was happy to keep it to himself. Life was easier that way without anyone knowing his quirks. 

“Did you see that Yuuri?” Victor turned back to his servant who nodded in return.

Yuuri always kept his eyes on Victor.

* * *

Except when it came time for Victor’s bath. Yuuri knew this was coming, Victor had stated it before Yuuri even agreed to be his valet. But it was still going to take some getting used to.

“It’s okay Yuuri, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Victor's voice was soft as Yuuri held close to the bottom of Victor’s undershirt. Victor had already removed most of his clothing before Yuuri stepped up and asked if that was supposed to be his job.

Victor did not want to make Yuuri uncomfortable in any way and since Yuuri seemed to respond poorly to nudity he was not wanting to force him to do something he did not want.

“I can do it,” Yuuri felt determined. He wanted to be good, he knew he could do it. It was just being close to Victor that made everything feel so dizzy.

Yuuri lifted Victors shirt up finally pulling it over his master's head. His breath caught in his throat as he got his first good look at Victor's body. He licked his lips as he looked over his toned stomach and chest, Victor had muscle but it was lean and not too bulky, like his real strength was in his core and agility. He had a couple bruises on his skin from training, Yuuri yearned to lean forward and kiss those marks.

Quickly, he stepped back, retracting his hands and still felt Victor’s eyes on him waiting for him to decide his next move. With a deep breath Yuuri moved his hands back, unbuckling Victors belt, and flicking the pants button open. At then he jumped back a second time.

“Okay, that’s all I can do today,” Yuuri stammered but felt proud of himself nonetheless.

“That’s fine, I know it’s not what you’re used to,” Victor placed his hand on Yuuri’s head. Again searching for what was the right thing to say to Yuuri.

“You don’t have to coddle me,” Yuuri sighed. He appreciated Victor in trying so hard to make him comfortable but if he did that it would never help him improve as a servant. He wanted Victor to not hold back with him, like Victor was handling Yuuri with extra care. “You’re my master so make me your servant.”

Yuuri’s face flushed slightly but he kept the stern look on his face. Victor returned the look and nodded. If that was what Yuuri needed from him as a master, that is what he would give him.

“Then finish your work, Yuuri,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sounds dirty >:3c


	4. We can promise right now,

The laundry basket in Yuuri's arms strained him as he walked down toward the laundry room. He was sure he would have massive biceps in a few weeks after carrying laundry. How did Victor even have so much clothing? Yuuri knew, it was because Victor literally changed his clothing in the middle of the day and had over 3 layers of clothing per outfit.

He bumped the door open with his hip and pushed his way into the laundry room. Many washing machines and dryers lined the walls, a couple of them mid cycle. Yuuri opened one of the machines and began unloading the basket.

“Wow, you are really bad at this,” a voice spoke up causing Yuuri to jump back. 

He looked around to find a slightly younger boy peeking up from around the washing machine door.

“Yeah, well, it’s not like I’ve done this before,” Yuuri sighed in frustration, pulling the clothing back out. “Doesn’t it all just go in?”

The other boy sighed and walked around to the front of the machine.

“It’s okay it’s really easy to learn, here,” He started separating the types of clothing apart from pants, to vests, to shirts. “The dress shirts are more delicate so you should separate those with the undergarments but the pants and the vests can be washed together.”

Yuuri nodded along to what the younger boy was saying, it seemed simple enough. On the rare occasions that he did help with laundry it was just a nun handing him a basket and asking him to put it in the machine.

“Thanks, Victor would probably not be too happy with me if I ruined all his clothing within the first week,” Yuuri smiled and started loading the separate clothing into the washing machine.

“I figured, Celestino told us we might see you around, I’m Phichit,” Phichit laughed. Word got around fast between the servants and it was big news that Victor had finally chosen a valet.

“Yuuri,” He introduced himself and looks at the different dials on the washing mashine now. Why did there have to be so many options. “Uh?”

“Ya know I’m not entirely sure myself, I just wash everything except for towels on cold and so far nothing has been ruined,” Phichit had a sweet genuine laugh. Yuuri naturally was feeling relaxed and comfortable around him it was just the air of relaxation around Phichit that made it difficult to be tense around him.

“Thanks again,” Yuuri smiled, the smile reaching his eyes too.

“Not a problem, I know my way around the laundry room, they call me Phichit the laundry king,” Phichit climbed on top of the washing machine and posed. It made Yuuri feel relaxed that Phichit had so much youthful playfulness to him and being a servant did not make him into a robot. 

“No one calls you that,” Yuuri laughed. Maybe they did and that thought only made Yuuri laugh harder. 

“Well maybe they would if I made my talents known, put in a good word for me with Victor?” Phichit jumped down from the machine face to face with Yuuri.

“I don’t think him and I are that close quite yet,” Yuuri stepped back bumping into the table behind him.

“Well you’re closer than anyone else is,” Phichit thought about it for a second. “Well aside from his siblings I guess”

Yuuri was planning on waiting till the laundry was done so he hopped up onto the table.

“Can you tell me anything about Victor?” Yuuri realized even though he had already been working under Victor for a week he did not know much about the man before he arrived. 

Phichit clapped his hands together, excited to gossip.

“Victor is….” His voice trailed off as he thought about it. “Victor is...well, very handsome.”

“Well that much I knew,” Yuuri sighed. He was hoping some deeper inner thoughts on the mysterious young lord that turned his life around. “But what is he really like?”

“I guess not a lot of people know, he doesn’t usually let people get close enough, especially with servants, I mean don’t get me wrong, he is nice but just distant”

Yuuri nodded as he listened. Victor never seemed distant to him, ever since they met Victor hardly keeps a hand off Yuuri for too long, even the smallest of touches from a hand on the shoulder or hip to putting his whole arm around Yuuri. Victor was anything but distant, everything about Victor was close and open, anything he asked Victor answered.

“You would probably know more about him than any of the other servants, you are his right hand man technically,” Phichit added in at Yuuri’s thousand yard stare. “So do you like him?”

“What!? No way!” Yuuri stammered and waved his hands up to brush it off but he was taken aback by the sudden question. Who even asked questions like that? Well Phichit apparently but it was still way more than he wanted to think about. He did not want to think about his dormant feelings for his master, he knew it was there but it was probably going to just be trouble for Victor. It was better if he didn’t say anything.

“Really? That’s weird, most people like him he’s really nice and talented...” Phichit’s voice trailed off.

“Oh you mean as a friend, yeah of course, he’s been great,” Yuuri blushed at the fact he jumped to conclusion that Phichit was asking about his romantic feelings.

“Ha! I knew it, so you do like him!” Phichit had a smug look on his face and Yuuri felt like he was doing backflips talking to this boy.

“Wait what?” Yuuri let out an exasperated sigh.

“You like him, I mean like like, love him,” Phichit stuck his tongue out to tease Yuuri. He was a sneaky kid who knew how to get information out of unsuspecting people.

“Not at all, He’s my master,” Yuuri looked away from Phichit’s bearing eyes. He wanted to crawl under his blanket covers and hide for the rest of his life.

“It’s okay Yuuri, your secrets safe with me.”

* * *

Most days Yuuri was just following Victor around between Victor’s lessons and his own etiquette lessons. Today was just a free study day. Lilia had important business with Yakov to attend to and told Victor to study on his own for the day. That lasted all of 30 minutes before Victor was staring absentmindedly out the library window. 

Victor hated being cooped up, and being told he couldn't go outside only made the idea more appealing. He stole a glance over at his valet, watched the way his brown eyes scanned the page he was reading, occasionally mouthing a few words from the book here and there. Victor gazed intently at the way his lips moved, his tongue occasionally poking out to lick his lips. Victor instinctively licked his too. He wanted to reach out and touch those lips, they looked so soft and pink. His mouth hung open slightly.

“Victor?” Yuuri's voice broke him from his thoughts and he looked up to see the younger staring at him now. “Is there something on my face?”

Yuuri flushed slightly and covered his mouth with his hand. What a sin to do, Victor wanted to look longer.

“I’m sorry I was just spacing out,” Victor yawned and stretched, closing his book. “We should go on a walk.”

They shouldn’t, Yuuri knew that, but he was tired of sitting inside too when the trees were starting to look so pretty, the leaves were all red and falling everywhere. It was a shame to be inside looking at a book. 

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Yuuri got up and stretched as well, massaging his butt where it had fallen asleep from sitting for too long. “I’ll get your coat.”

* * *

The fall air was crisp and burned Victor’s nose as he took a deep breath, but he was at the very least glad to be out of the castle. He loved this time of year, when the leaves fell and crunched as he walked. It made the walk more lively, like the ground was talking back to him. He stole yet another glance at Yuuri who was walking beside him, glad that he was also a fast walker. It made their walks through the forest much more comfortable with neither trying to keep pace. They had taken this path many times before already, they trailed off and followed the deer made path knowing it lead to a small river. 

The river was only a foot or two deep. Only enough for fish to swim through it as the water calmly moved along. It didn’t go very far across either, Victor thought every time they came out there that it would be nice to see what was on the other side, but they could never find a simple way to cross without soaking their feet and in the fall time that was certainly not a good idea. 

So Victor sat beside the river on log that had rolled it’s way to the side of the water. He and Yuuri have almost gone 15 minutes now without saying a word to each other, but it was such a comfortable silence. They did not feel the need to fill it. Yuuri followed and sat next to Victor looking out into the water. Life with Victor was very comfortable. Not just in the sense of he now had clothing that fit him and ate the most delicious food he could have imagined. The nuns cooked and fed them just fine but the chefs here were beyond amazing. It was comfortable in the sense that being next to Victor just felt like it was where he was meant to be. Yuuri leaned to the side a bit till his shoulder pressed into Victor’s. Neither of them reacted to it, it was normal for them to be touching in one form or another. Yuuri had gotten used to bathing Victor every day and there was no way to get around their closeness in those moments. It was awkward and clumsy at first but now it was a natural time when Victor would pour into Yuuri all of his thoughts on the day that he was not able to share while they were with others.

“This is nice,” Victor sighed leaning back into Yuuri. He had to hold himself back from just putting his arm around the younger man...or at least he tried to hold himself back. Victor wiggled his arm out from between them and put it around Yuuri’s waist pulling him closer.

Yuuri looked up at Victor, he did not understand all of the things Victor did but he knew he never did something he did not mean. Victor wanted Yuuri closer so he brought him closer, that was all there was too it. Yuuri sighed and rested his head into Victor’s chest. He wanted this too but he only followed Victor’s lead, never wanting to overstep his bounds. 

“Yeah, I like this,” Yuuri muttered softly. It was closer than a servant should be to his master, but if this was what his master wanted who was he to argue when he wanted it too. 

“Yuuri look?” Victor exclaimed suddenly, jolting Yuuri from his peaceful thoughts. Victor was pointing to the edge of the water.

Yuuri looked out and squinted, all he saw was rocks.

“What?” Yuuri asked.

“There, the turtle,” Victor said with more enthusiasm, this time leaning forward more to point. “I don’t want to move we will scare him”

Yuuri leaned forward too squinting more, trying his best to get his eyes to focus. He saw a rock move and assumed that must be it.

“Oh, yeah cool,” Yuuri hummed, he could hardly see it but accepted that Victor liked the turtle.

“Yuuri,” Victor called for Yuuri’s attention, staring down at his servant. “Can you see?”

“Yeah, I can see, It’s just a bit far away so ya know it’s all soft,” Yuuri pouted.

“It’s not supposed to be soft,” Victor said a bit sadly realizing what Yuuri’s problem was.

“Well it’s how it has always been,” Yuuri did not like to be reminded of his short comings, so he could not see as far as other people. It was not a huge deal, who needed to see that far anyway.

“Ah,” Victor could feel that Yuuri was tense and did not want to add more to it. Yuuri seemed to relax slowly as Victor remained silent and he appreciated it. Victor stopped going easy on him when it came to his work, but as a friend he knew when Yuuri opened up to meet him where he was.

Yuuri stood up slowly and tried to creep closer to the turtle. He wanted to see it and was determined to not let his visual imparity stop him. Carefully step by step he moved closer to the river. He was just on the edge of the water when he crouched down and squinted at the other side of the river.

Just barely he could make out the shape of the shell along with a few of the shapes on its back. There was probably more to the turtle but Yuuri smiled anyway. All the animals they came across were always so beautiful. He looked back at Victor and smiled, Victor smiled back and it made his heart pick up the pace. No matter how much time they spent together Victor's smile was still overwhelming when it was aimed at him. 

Suddenly a large fish splashed right near where Yuuri was squatting by the river, startling the teen. He jumped back with a yelp.

Victor laughed. “Reminds me of the day we first met,” Victor mused.

Yuuri stood up straight and brushed out the wrinkles in his pants.

“You still think about that?” Yuuri’s face flushed. He wanted to forget about him knocking his future master into the water and imagine a much smoother more charming first meeting.

“Of course I do,” it brought me to you. Victor finished the second half of that sentence in his head. Every day he was more and more infatuated with Yuuri. Everything about him was magnificent and brilliant like the sunlight and Victor wanted to bask in that light forever. 

“Yeah? Well it is a bit more embarrassing on my end,” Yuuri shrugged it off. He wanted Victor to be impressed with him and it was hard to do that when his first meeting was such a mess.

“Come Yuuri, I want to sit a little while longer,” Victor patted the spot next to him on the log and Yuuri returned to his spot tucked under Victor’s arm. Life together was easy.

* * *

It was surprising that it had already been 2 months since Yuuri first arrived at the castle. When Victor found out Yuuri’s birthday was coming up Yuuri insisted on not making a big deal out of it but Victor was having none of that. He continued to want to give Yuuri the world and more. 

Victor at least was able to restrain himself with the size of the party. If Yuuri was a noble there would be a huge ball with every other noble in the country invited and bringing along guests, including their allied countries being invited as well. However, Yuuri being a servant was able to get away with only having the people close to him invited to a small outdoor party.

It surprised Yuuri to see Yuri and Otabek show up. Yurio seemed to hate Yuuri almost any other time of day, but today he seemed to want to play nice. Or maybe he was very interested in the cake Victor had the chefs make. 

Either way Yuuri could not help but just be happy that he was not alone this birthday. He did not want to make a big deal but now that a deal was being made he was really enjoying it. 

Phichit ran up to his friend and grabbed his hand.

“Yuuri dance with me,” he whined pulling Yuuri into the open space they had cleared.

“No he’s going to dance with me,” Mila’s small voice pitched in grabbing Yuuri’s other hand.

Yuuri laughed nervously, looking back at Victor for help but Victor just waved at him and allowed the younger to be pulled away.

“Is he everything you expected him to be?” Georgi strutted over to his brother who now stood alone by one of the tables.

“And more,” Victor retorted. His brother was always looking for ways to soil Victor’s cheerful disposition, but when it came to Yuuri there was no contest. Yuuri may not be the best servant, but he tries really hard and he learns quick. On top of that he was the best friend Victor had been searching for, all of Victor’s layers shed away around Yuuri in a way he had never felt with anyone before.

“Alright then, I guess if he makes you happy I really shouldn’t be complaining,” Georgi let out a long sigh. “I got the dumb thing you asked for,” Georgi pulled a slim box out from his jacket and handed it over to Victor.

“I owe you one,” Victor took the box, brushing his thumbs across the blue ribbon holding it together.

“You owe me like five at this point,” Georgi huffed but let it go. 

Victor tucked the box inside his jacket and looked over at Yuuri who was spinning Mila around. He smiled softly, at least one of Victor’s siblings got along perfectly with Yuuri. Victor strutted over to his valet.

“Mind if I cut in?” Victor asked.

“Fine,” Mila whined and pouted her way over to Yurio.

Victor took Yuuri’s hands now and spun him around.

“Are you enjoying your party?” Victor leaned in closer to Yuuri and whispered.

Yuuri made a small sound of agreement and leaned his forehead on Victor’s shoulder.

“It’s more than I could have ever asked for,” He lifted his face to look up at Victor. “Thank you.”

“It’s not over yet,” Victor loved the look of surprise that quickly spread over Yuuri’s face. “Don’t worry, it does not involve any more people, just us.”

Victor took Yuuri’s hand and began walking him away from the party. Yuuri’s heart could not take the anticipation. He could never predict what Victor was going to do or say and this time was no different. 

“I uh,” Victor opened his jacket and pulled out the long box. “Got you a birthday present”

Yuuri took the box gently in his hands and looked up at Victor with wide eyes. As far away they were now from the party lights the moonlight showed strongly on Victor’s hair, making him glow. 

“You...what?” Yuuri looked down at the box, clutching it tightly.

“Go on, open it,” Victor urged him.

Yuuri pulled the ribbon off and popped the box open. A pair of blue rimmed glasses sat in the box. He took them out, carefully, opening them and putting them gently on his face. He gasped audibly and covered his mouth with one hand. It was like everything had come into focus and his focus was Victor.

“I wanted you to see the world, Yuuri,” Victor reached out slowly, running his fingertips along Yuuri’s cheek.

Yuuri tried to blink back tears but when he looked up he saw something he had never seen before, the stars. He knew they were there but the lights were always just so faint and blurry he could hardly appreciate them. He couldn’t hold them back. The tears started flowing as he looked up at the night sky. Victor pulled him into a hug, petting his hair to calm him down.

“Thank you,” Yuuri managed to get the words out in between sniffles.

Victor wanted to give Yuuri everything and he continued to do so every day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> make sure you're keeping track of time passing cause it's gonna do it a couple times, Yuuri just turned 17 here


	5. There is two ways to do things, the easy way or-

The year passed smoothly and Yuuri became very accustomed to his job as a valet. With Phichit’s help he managed to get the hang of laundry, even learned how to iron and surprisingly hand wash too. Although Yuuri would never admit it outloud, he prefered getting Victor out of those clothes much more than washing them. It was a view he got to appreciate every single night. A view he often found himself thinking about in the middle of the night. 

Yuuri rolled over in bed trying to get comfortable. He could feel his sweatpants growing tighter. It’s been a year and a half since he first arrived with Victor. Most nights he was able to ignore how sculpted Victor’s body was when he was doing his job but tonight while he was removing Victor’s shirt he accidentally brushed his thumb over Victor’s nipple. Victor did not make a reply but his body responded as the nipple perked up at the touch. Yuuri wanted to lean in and kiss it, bite it, mark it as his. 

Yuuri slipped his hand under his waistband and wrapped his hand loosely around his cock. It wasn’t the first time he would have gotten himself off to thoughts of Victor. He let out a soft sigh moving his hand in a slow rhythm wishing it was Victor’s hand on him. 

“Mmm, Victor,” Yuuri moaned, turning his face into the pillow. It was not fair that Victor was so close to him all the time. He was trying to keep his feelings for Victor in the back of his mind but Victor made sure that he took up Yuuri’s thoughts every second of the day. Before Victor, Yuuri never touched himself like this, but Victor overwhelmed his thoughts till he needed to do something to relieve himself. He had more than his imagination of what Victor looked like naked, he knew, he saw it every day. He knew what that skin felt like under his fingertips.

He pumped his fist faster, sloppy, without any real technique. He just wanted to finish and go to bed.

“Victor,” He muttered again with short breathy moans. That name felt so nice on his lips.

Suddenly there was a knock at his door.

“Crap,” Yuuri pulled his hand away and tugged up his pants. He hoped he wasn’t too loud, had someone heard him?

The door pushed open slightly and a familiar face peaked in.

“Victor?” Yuuri asked as he saw his lord standing there with a dog at his side. That would be even worse if it was Victor who heard him. He was glad it was dark and Victor could not see the blush on his face.

“Can Makkachin and I sleep with you?” Victor padded into the room closing the door behind him. He already knew Yuuri’s answer.

“Yeah, sure,” Yuuri stammered, trying to will his erection to go away quickly. 

Victor walked around the bed and crawled in behind Yuuri. Makkachin jumped right in front, leaving Yuuri sandwiched between the two. 

Yuuri closed his eyes and tried to relax, but between his previous actions and having Victor so close now. His heart was racing. 

“Is it okay if I hold you?” Victor whispered. He did not want to share the reason for his sudden neediness outloud. He had just had a terrible dream where Yuuri was being taken away by some unknown persons. He knew it was stupid and irrational. His family was literally the government. Who was going to take Yuuri from him?

“Mhm,” Yuuri muttered. It was unlike Victor to ask to touch him, usually he just did. “Are you okay?”

Victor moved closer to Yuuri, pressing his chest up to Yuuri’s back and snaking his arm around his waist. He buried his head in the nape of Yuuri’s neck and let out a soft sigh.

“Mhm, much better now,” He whispered against the soft skin.

This sent goosebumps all over him. He had gotten used to Victor being close and touching him, but not this close. Yuuri exhaled slowly, trying to relax as Victor moved even closer till his groin was pressed under Yuuri’s butt and his leg hooked over Yuuri’s.

“Please don’t leave me, Yuuri,” Victor mumbled, his face still buried into his valet.

He never thought Yuuri would, but the nightmare had given him such a scare. It felt too real. He could see Yuuri being taken from him so vividly. Being dragged away by some faceless people as Victor fought to reach out for him but couldn’t grab him in time. He squeezed his arm a bit tighter around the younger man.

“What are you talking about, Victor? I’m not going anywhere,” thankfully Yuuri had calmed down enough so he could roll over and face his master. He was met with Victor’s sky blue eyes reflecting the moonlight way too perfectly. Yuuri was taken aback for a moment, forgetting why he rolled over in the first place. “What are you thinking about?”

Victor did not reply this time, just pulled Yuuri close and tucked him under his chin so he could bury his face into the top of his valet’s hair.

“You’re my Yuuri,” he mumbled sleepily.

Yuuri’s heart fluttered, he would not tell Victor this but he loved when Victor referred to him as ‘his’. He wanted Victor to claim him in far more dirtier ways. Yuuri threw his arm over Victor and splayed his hand across his master's back. He felt the muscles move slightly as Victor shifted to get more comfortable.

“Yeah, for as long as you will keep me,” Yuuri inhaled through his nose and could smell Victor’s soap from his bath earlier. He had smelled it so many times before, but when he was entangled with Victor like this the smell was even more intoxicating. 

“Forever?” Victor sounded more asleep than awake at this point.

“Yeah, forever,” Yuuri closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep in his master’s arms. He knew this was more than a servant should be to a master. But it felt too nice for him to object. If Victor wanted him here, and Yuuri wanted it too, who was anyone to stop them.

 

* * *

As Victor and Yuuri were growing up so were Otabek and Yurio. Otabek was not Yurio’s servant but half the time you could be mistaken into thinking he was. Otabek was always by Yuri’s side. He did not have his own bedroom but that was because on nights he stayed over he just slept with Yurio. Otabek was just a lesser noble of the dukedom. His family produced all the armor of the nation and had their own mansion just up the road from the castle. 

They had just celebrated Yurio’s 10th birthday when a threat had been sent from the Ocelot family. They were getting more aggressive with their threats, this time directly saying they were going to kidnap one of the younger children of the Nikiforov family. This set everyone on edge. They had sent threats before but never this direct of exactly what they were going to do. 

Mila and Yurio were put on lockdown. Increased guards all throughout the castle, more than they ever had at once. Mila adjusted easily, she was very busy in her private lessons with Lilia anyway. Yurio on the other hand was going stir crazy. Being told he was not allowed to leave only made it even more so. That was where he was more like his older brother than he would ever admit. They both had a problem with being told they could not do something. 

Since they were no longer able to go outside to play, they were inside. Otabek was playing piano waiting for his friend to return from the bathroom. He was not expecting the sudden kick to the chair leg, startling him. Not one to show much expression, Otabek swung his legs to the side to turn around and look at his angry companion pouting at him with crossed arms.

“We are going outside,” Yurio huffed. It was not a question it was an order, and Yurio did not even have the power over Otabek to be giving orders.

“You know I can’t let you do that,” Otabek sighed. He wished they could. He did not like keeping Yurio inside either. Once dance classes were over, Yurio had nothing to distract him from boredom. 

“Beka,” Yurio whined, climbing on Otabek’s lap he hid his face in the older boys shoulder.

“You’re getting too big for me to be carrying you like this,” Otabek patted Yuri on the head. “I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you.”

Yuri peeked up his head.

“But nothing would happen to me if you’re around, right?” Yurio smiled, and it was such a rare sight and Otabek had to stop to marvel at it for a moment. He would like to think he could protect Yuri, but he was still just a kid himself. Otabek was strong compared to Yuri but he had never trained for any combat. If someone was to really try and hurt Yurio, Otabek would be useless.

His heart was sinking at the thought of anyone trying to hurt his best friend, he wanted to be stronger.

“Of course,” He reassured Yurio anyway. No point in making the younger worry. Otabek took Yurio’s hand and pressed his lips gently to his palm. “I will always protect you, Yura, I swear my life on it.”

“Beka!” Yuri shouted wrapping his arms around Otabek’s neck and holding him tight. “Don’t say stuff like that.”

Otabek pet Yuri’s hair trying to comfort him. He did not mean to sound so morbid. 

“We’re still not going outside,” Otabek finally said, to confirm with Yuri that they were not getting out of the orders to stay in the castle.

“Then we’re playing inside,” Yuri hopped off Otabek’s lap. “You’re it.”

And with a devilish smirk, Yuri took off, running out of the music room and down the hall. Otabek chasing after him.

 

* * *

After a couple weeks had passed they were getting a little less concerned about the Ocelot threat. It seemed to have been empty as there had been no attacks on the castle. However for safety they only allowed the two youngest outside if they had at least two bodyguards. 

Yuri immediately took this opportunity to get out of the castle. Three weeks was far too long to not be allowed outside. He hurried to throw his shoes on and pulling Otabek through the back door toward his favorite path. Yakov decided to count Otabek as one of the body guards, as long as there was two people around Yuri would be in capable hands. 

Otabek held tight onto Yuri’s hand no matter how hard he tried to pull away to run ahead. This is why Yakov counted Otabek as a guard. The older boy kept his eyes searching the trees, looking for any sort of movement that would indicate a surprise attack. 

“If they haven’t attacked by now, I don’t think they are going to,” the Guard spoke up at Otabek’s vigilance. 

Otabek tried to relax a bit, but with Yuri’s faith in him to not let anything happen, he could not afford to let down his guard.

Yuri pulled them forward, deeper and deeper into the woods. Of course the first day they are allowed outside and he want’s to go into the forest, not just around the field. 

They were out fully into the woods. Normally Otabek liked this path as well, they usually saw lots of woodland creatures and beautiful wild flowers. But he could not appreciate it at this time.

“Ya know, I was really hoping I wasn’t going to have to kill a kid,” 

Otabek only had a second to register what the guard had said when suddenly a large branch smashed into the back of his head. 

He fell to the ground, his vision fading out for a moment when he heard Yuri’s voice.

“Beka! Help!” Yuri was screaming trying to pull away from the man tying his wrists together. “Beka!”

Otabek looked up to just barely see Yuri being slung over the traitors shoulder, kicking and screaming at the top of his lungs. The man took off running, leaving Otabek bleeding on the ground.

His head was throbbing but he forced himself up to his feet and bolted after Yuri. He could still see Yuri fighting to get free.

“Beka!” Yuri shouted when he saw his friend chasing after them.

The traitor looked back over his shoulder.

“Seriously, you should have stayed down kid, I don’t want to have to kill you,”

Otabek’s head was killing him, and his lungs felt like they were on fire as he could taste blood in his mouth but he couldn’t stop chasing after Yuri. He couldn’t let them get out of sight, he couldn’t give up till he had Yuri back. Slowly he was closing the distance between them as the man grew tired from carrying another person. Even if that person was as small as Yuri. 

“Yuri!” Otabek shouted, his throat burning as he tried to breath. 

The man stopped and threw Yuri to the ground for a second before yanking him back up and brandishing a machete, holding it to Yuri’s throat.

“Stop following us or I’ll slit his throat right now,” the traitor warned.

In retrospect Otabek should have brought a weapon himself.

“No you won’t” Otabek spoke up, surprising the man. “He’s no use to you dead, you want a ransom right? Then you need him alive.”

“Maybe, but I don’t need you,” The machete turned and pointed at Otabek this time,

Yuri was shaking, he never missed the castle as much as he did now. He hated how useless he felt, bargaining for his life, and it wasn’t even him doing the bargaining. He started crying.

“Beka, please go, they will get me back, just go,” Yuri sobbed, he couldn’t help but feel this was his fault. It was him they were after, it was him who wanted to go outside. And now Otabek would die for him.

“You know I can’t,” Otabek half smiled at Yuri, no matter how much every bone in his body was screaming at him to run away he couldn’t leave. 

He had to act fast. He had no weapon, he was much smaller and weaker than the other guy. All he had was…

“Yura!” 

Yuri jammed his elbows back, hitting the man in the stomach. Otabek lunged forward and punched the knife out of the man's hand, it flung across the ground. As Otabek tried to make a dive for it the man elbowed him hard in the face. Sending Otabek to the dirt with a firm thud. Yuri tried to get away but the man grabbed his ankle, dragging the boy across the ground. 

“You fucking little shit,” the traitor wrapped his hands around Yuri’s throat. “You’re not even worth your ransom.”

Yuri kicked, flinging his tiny wrists at the man, trying to force him off of him. But he was too small. He couldn’t breath and the more he was panicking the more he felt air leaving his lungs when suddenly there was a loud tearing sound of flesh ripping.

The grip loosened and Yuri took a deep breath, coughing as air filled him again. The man fell to the side and Otabek stood there shaking. He didn’t know what to do, Yuri was dying, he had to save Yuri… Yuri. He looked down and saw his friend coughing and crying. Otabek was so frustrated, he wished he was stronger, he should have been able to protect Yuri from all this. It should never have gotten to this.

“Yura?” Otabek spoke softly kneeling down next to the boy. Yuri leaped forward burying his face into Otabek’s chest. He sobbed heavily, holding on as tight as he could.

“It’s okay Yura, I’ve got you it’s all over,” Otabek pressed his lips to the top of Yuri’s head. He did not have time to process everything that had happened, he had to comfort Yuri first. He had to make sure Yuri was okay first. “I told you I would never let anything happen to you.”

Yuri lifted his face to look at Otabek. Carefully he moved his hands up to caress his face.

“You’re bleeding,” Yuri mumbled leaning in to press his forehead to Otabek’s.

“So are you,” Otabek stood up and lifted Yuri up carrying him like he’s done so many time before. “Time to get you home.”

* * *

When they got back to the castle, Otabek collapsed on the floor. He had been bleeding from his head a lot and still managed to carry a frightened Yuri back to the castle. Yuri rushed to find help and when Otabek woke up again he was in Yuri’s bed, the sun had set outside. His head was still throbbing with a massive headache. When he touched his forehead he felt gauze wrapped around it. There was an iv attached to him with a drip bag but other than that he did not seem too beat up.

Yuri was sprawled across his lap with his legs stretched out across the bed. Otabek reached out and pet the blonde hair, moving it out of his face. The younger boy stirred, his green eyes blinking open as he met Otabek staring back at him.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Yuri sighed closing his eyes again. 

“What happened,” Otabek could not remember anything since they got back to the castle. 

“They found the guy, he was a spy for the Ocelot family, been working on it for a while apparently, he’s been aiming to take me for months and was waiting for the right moment,” Yuri mumbled, nuzzling into the blanket. 

“He didn’t die?” Otabek’s heart rate picked up. The whole walk home he was in a panic, he couldn’t believe he stabbed someone. Trying to justify that it was to save Yuri, but struggling with taking a life. His sanity was falling apart every step they got closer to the castle.

“Nope, just barely made it, everyone was praising you for being so brave,” Yuri yawned smacking his lips a couple times. “If it wasn’t for you, I would have died.”

That was what was holding Otabek together the whole time, he did what he was meant to do, he saved Yuri.

“I’ll always be here to protect you Yura,” Otabek had made a decision. He needed to be strong for Yuri, he needed to be skilled. “When I grow up, I’ll become a knight like Victor so I will be even stronger, I’ll never let anything hurt you.”

Yuri opened his eyes again and looked up at Otabek. He could feel the determination from him. He wanted that, he wanted Otabek to be with him. He felt safe with Otabek around.

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

* * *

In the library, Yuuri worked on putting books away. He had a bad habit of taking books without putting the old ones back till they piled up. Now he was roaming around the library with a stack of books that he needed to put away. Victor sat absent mindedly at a table, watching Yuri walk back and forth between where the books belonged.

“Has Yurio been recovering okay?” Yuuri asked setting a couple of the books down on the table trying to organize what goes where. 

“He would hate to hear you call him that,” Victor laughed softly. “Yes he is fine, Otabek seemed to have gotten the worst of it, but he is recovering well too.”

“It feels weird to say my own name,” Yuuri sighed. “But I’m glad Otabek is alright, must have been scary.”

“Mhm, Otabek has been Yuri’s only friend for so long, I don’t think either of them could live if something happened to the other,” Victor’s voice was sollom. He knew how Otabek felt, Victor would do the same if someone took his Yuuri. It was just a lot more to throw that pressure on a 12 year old kid. 

“I don’t blame them, I don’t know what I would do If I lost you,” Yuuri nearly spoke Victor’s thoughts causing the older's face to blush. He always knew how he felt about Yuuri, but Yuuri was making it more and more apparent that those feelings were returned.

“Well you wouldn’t have a job for one thing,” Victor tried to play it up as a joke to get more information out of Yuuri.

“I guess, but mostly you’re just….I don’t know, you’re Victor, even if I kept working here I wouldn’t have you so what would be the point. You’re my best friend too,” Yuuri just rambled the thoughts in his head and suddenly was very aware of Victor staring at him. He turned away, trying his best to hide the red pooling in his cheeks.

Yuuri climbed up the ladder attached to the bookshelf, forcing the book in his hand between two other ones.

“Hey Victor can you hand me-” Yuuri looked down to see Victor looking up at him with eyes he had not seen before. He was looking up at Yuuri like he was something to eat. “Victor?”

Victor’s mind was hardly here, he was just thinking about Yuuri. How sweet he looked with his face blushing. Victor knew how he felt and he was right, Yuuri did feel the same. Yuuri was more than the orphan kid that Victor met by accident. Yuuri was a young adult now, his valet, his best friend, his equal. The person Victor wanted to share the world with.

Victor reached up and took Yuuri’s hand, guiding him carefully down the ladder. When Yuuri’s feet were flat on the floor, Victor wrapped his arm around the back of his valet’s waist, bringing their bodies closer together.

Yuuri could hardly remember to breath. Victor so close and looking him with those eyes. Yuuri fluttered his eyelashes up at Victor, not sure where he should be looking. Victor hadn’t said a word until-

“I’m going to kiss you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternate title "yuuri has turned into a legal adult while otabek nearly kills a man"   
> also im a tease, tune in next week for some prime smooches


	6. We could do something dangerous, we could fall in love,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOSH IM SO SORRY THIS IS LATE I FORGOT TO UPLOAD IT BEFORE I LEFT FOR WORK IN THE MORNING

Yuuri’s breath caught in his throat as he waited for Victor to make his move. He ran his hands up Victor’s arm, and gave a small squeeze. 

Victor could hear his own heartbeat in his ears, he said it, now he needed to follow through. Yuuri was holding onto him tighter and Victor figured that was about as much of a response as he was going to get.

He tilted his head down and carefully brushed his lips against Yuuri’s just to test the waters. Yuuri’s eyes fluttered closed as he moved his hands up to hold onto the nape of Victor’s neck. With that Victor pressed his lips more firmly against his valet’s, gripping tighter onto his waist. 

Yuuri had no idea what he was doing, he had never kissed anyone before, he just wanted to hold onto Victor and never let him go. So he let Victor guide their movements. Victor let his tongue poke delicately at Yuuri’s lips. He did not want Yuuri to feel pressured in anyway, but the more Yuuri pressed his body closer the more Victor felt Yuuri just wanted Victor to take him. 

Victor yanked Yuuri’s hips closer to his, eliciting a gasp from Yuuri which he took as his opportunity to press his tongue inside the other's mouth. Yuuri ran his hands up into Victor’s hair, gripping him tightly as he allowed himself to go with how he felt. With no experience he was relying on pure instinct, so he brushed his tongue up against Victor’s, the taste of his master making his knees weak. 

“Yuuri,” Victor moaned into the younger's mouth and that did it for Yuuri. Before Yuuri could collapse Victor scooped him up and placing his butt on a rung of the ladder.  Yuuri kept his legs wrapped around Victor’s waist but allowed the ladder to support him.

This was too good to be happening, he had imagined what kissing Victor would be like a billion times but he never thought that he actually would. Why was Victor kissing him, he had a hard time believing Victor was interested in him. 

“Victor, why are you doing this?” Yuuri managed to mumble against Victor’s lips.

Victor pulled away, to look at Yuuri. He saw those warm brown eyes blinking back at him with worry and hesitation. He would have to get used to Yuuri’s self doubt.

“Because I love you, of course,”

“Oh,” was all Yuuri could say before he lunged forward to capture Victor's mouth with his own, this time deepening it himself. Victor loved him. That was too crazy, his brain was short circuiting and he needed to just hold onto Victor and not let this pass him by. He was probably too enthusiastic, too sloppy, but he did not care. 

Victor took Yuuri’s wrists, peeling his hands away from where he was clinging desperately to Victor. He pulled away from the kiss with a nip to the younger’s lip as he guided Yuuri’s hands up to a rung of the ladder.

“Don’t move your hands from this spot,” Victor ordered and Yuuri grabbed the rung to keep himself from moving. 

Yuuri felt so vulnerable, more than he ever had around Victor and it was exciting, he did not know what Victor was going to do next but he wanted it, he wanted Victor to give him orders, to be his master.

“Victor?” Yuuri muttered, his eyes half lidded as Victor ran his hands up and down Yuuri’s thighs.

“Hmm?” Victor hummed, carressing his hands further up Yuuri’s hips and sides.

“Are you gonna kiss me?” Yuuri’s mouth hung open slightly as he tried his best to hold onto the rung of the ladder, it was torturing him that Victor was touching him but he couldn’t do anything about it.

Victor nodded and leaned back in. Yuuri’s heart fluttered as he closed his eyes and waited .

“My Yuuri,” Victor muttered as he kissed Yuuri’s face softly. Little pecks across his cheeks and forehead. Yuuri whined, he wanted more, he wanted Victor to take all of him. “Patience.”

Victor pressed his body flat against Yuuri’s and buried his face into the younger’s neck.  Yuuri moaned, tilting his head to allow more access, he tried tilting his hips up to get any bit of friction but the ladder rung he was perched on did not have enough balance for him to not fall. Victor heard Yuuri’s silent pleas and pressed his hips into the other’s, letting out a low groan into his valet’s neck. He nibbled lightly at the skin there before kissing his way back up Yuuri’s neck and jaw, till he caught his mouth again. This time more aggressive as he bit Yuuri’s lip, tugging at it.

Yuuri was trying his best to be patient but that was impossible when all of this was still so new. He tightened his legs around Victor’s waist and tilted his hips up to grind their crotches together. Yuuri let out a small breathy moan as he could feel the growing hardness in Victor’s pants meeting his own.

“Victor,” Yuuri was right that name was so much better to moan when it was Victor touching him. He gripped tighter to the rung of the ladder, using that to support him more so he could grind against Victor properly. The ladder was digging into his back but he did not care, he needed more, needed Victor closer.

“Put your hands on me,” Victor gave Yuuri another command that the younger followed without hesitation. 

Yuuri gripped at Victor’s vest, fumbling with the buttons so he could run his hand’s up that tight dress shirt. He did these buttons every day he thought he would be a pro at getting Victor undressed by now. 

Victor was used to people touching him, but the way Yuuri did it was something entirely new for him, it started just from the way Yuuri would give him baths. Everything was so tender and just felt right. And right now being with Yuuri definitely felt right. 

He pulled away from the kiss to catch his breath. Victor pressed their foreheads together. Yuuri’s eyes fluttered open to meet Victor’s. 

“Wow,” Victor laughed. Yuuri’s eyes looked darker than they ever had, like he was just edging to go further.

Yuuri felt a little bit of drool coming out of his mouth and his face flushed as he tried to wipe it away. Victor laughed even louder at that.

“You’re so cute, Yuuri,” He whispered

Yuuri put his feet back on the ground, it felt foreign now. He just wanted to keep his legs wrapped around Victor forever.  As he was about to reply they heard the library door open. They were behind the bookshelf so out of view from the door, but Yuuri acted fast to button Victor’s vest back up and smooth out his shirt.

“Do I look okay?” Yuuri asked in a hushed voice.

“Perfect,”

Victor grabbed Yuuri’s hand and pulled him along. Past Mila who walked in with her own book stash to put away.

“Hi Yuuri,” She smiled, but didn’t pay much attention to the pair otherwise. So they snuck out of the library, running hand in hand toward Victor’s bedroom.

* * *

As soon as they were inside the room Victor closed the door behind them. Yuuri was giggling like he was a little kid. He could not believe what they had been doing. His lips still tingled from the kiss and he reached his fingers up to lightly brush them.

Victor took Yuuri’s hand, moving it away from his mouth to kiss each of his finger tips before placing one last gentle kiss to Yuuri’s lips. 

“Wow,” Victor said again, this time in a whisper. He was truly stunned by Yuuri and has been since the day they met. 

Yuuri tore himself away from Victor’s stare to smooth and fix the tie he had messed up during their kiss. He liked the way Victor’s eyes felt on him, but he had a hard time meeting that stare back still. Yet it was getting easier to be near him. 

“Are we gonna talk about that?” Yuuri spoke up. As much as he would like to just say nothing and appreciate the moment they had, he knew he needed clarification. He needed to know where he stood with Victor.

“What is there to talk about, Yuuri?” Victor stepped closer, carefully throwing his arms over Yuuri’s shoulders. Yuuri reflexively rested his own hands on Victor’s hips as he thought about it. He wasn’t sure exactly what needed to be talked about but he knew something needed to be said.

“What am I to you?” Yuuri asked, tilting his head up and surprised to find Victor staring back at him unwavering. He wondered if Victor ever felt nervous in his whole life because if he had Yuuri had never seen it.

“What do you want to be?” Victor was exceptionally good at hiding his nerves, it was something he was trained to do just to be a knight. You could not let the other person tell that you were nervous. But inside, his heart was pounding. He had been sure of what he wanted, now he needed to know what Yuuri wanted.

“I want to be your…” Yuuri trailed off. “Servant”

Victor clenched his jaw, that wasn’t the answer he was expecting.

“Anything else?” He tried to ask again, he could hear his heartbeat in his ears yet again and the silence from Yuuri was deafening.

“I want to be…” Yuuri gripped tighter onto Victor’s hips. He knew what he wanted, he had never been more sure of anything in his whole life, why was it so difficult to say it. “Your boyfriend.”

Yuuri felt his whole face go red but he was only able to be embarrassed for a moment before Victor’s hands were on his face and they were kissing again. His body melted back into Victor’s as he lifted up onto his toes to try and reach Victor easier. He could get used to this.

* * *

It was Yuuri’s idea to keep their relationship a secret, He did not want his shortcomings reflected on Victor. Even though Yuuri did not grow up around nobles he knew that someone of Yuuri’s standing should not be with someone of Victor’s. But that did not stop them, once it was spoken they could not keep their hand’s of each other even more than before. Baths were getting a lot more interesting too…

Yuuri was giddy as he was walking down to the laundry room, his steps lighter even though he was carrying a full laundry basket. He began sorting the clothes out when suddenly-

“What’s with your mood?” Phichit’s voice broke Yuuri from his happy thoughts and startled him.

“Phichit!” Yuuri shouted throwing a dirty vest at the younger servant. Phichit caught it and put it into the pile Yuuri was sorting.

“You’ve been hiding something from me and I want to know what,” Phichit demanded, circling the table to get in Yuuri’s way. “You’re way too happy.”

“Am I not allowed to be happy?” Yuuri smirked. He knew the reason for his happiness, it was hard to deny what the cause was. 

Phichit’s eyes narrowed as he looked Yuuri up and down briefly.

“Then what’s this?” Phichit pulled Yuuri’s collar to the side revealing a small bruise under his collar bone.

“What?” Yuuri looked down and he knew exactly what that mark was. He could remember exactly how Victor’s mouth felt as his teeth bit into his skin. Yuuri fought to hold back a smile but it was no use. His lips curled up again and Phichit was too perceptive to miss that.

“Who is it?” Phichit poked the mark and Yuuri flinched away from the dull pain of the bruise. 

Yuuri shrugged and continued sorting the laundry, there was no way he could tell his friend the truth. Even if they decided not to keep it a secret, Yuuri would still have a hard time admitting that he some how managed to get Victor Nikiforov to be in love with him. It was too inconceivable for him to believe.

“Oh come on, don’t think I’m falling for that, I know what that kind of mark is!” Phichit moved even closer, cornering Yuuri so he had nowhere to run. “Is it another servant? You gotta tell me who it is!”

“No,” Yuuri knew he couldn't run from Phichit forever. Phichit was the only one of the servants Yuuri felt comfortable talking with, the only one he really considered a friend outside of Victor. Would it really be that bad if he just told Phichit…

“It was Victor wasn’t it?” Phichit said like he was reading Yuuri’s mind.

Yuuri turned away but his face was giving him away. 

“Yes,” He admitted in the softest of whispers.

Phichits smile spread completely across his face before he began clapping loudly.

“Wow congrats! I can’t believe you’re dating Vi-” 

Yuuri jumped forward to cover Phichit’s mouth with his hand.

“Can you keep your voice down,” Yuuri looked around, they were alone in the laundry room but it only took one person walking past for a rumor to spread. Even if that rumor were true it wasn’t one Yuuri felt comfortable sharing. He did not want to put that burden on Victor, so he made it easy on him by saying he wanted to keep their relationship hidden for now.

“We aren’t exactly public with it yet.” 

Phichit nodded as Yuuri pulled his hand away.

“Why not?” He asked, his voice much more quiet now.

“I’m still his servant, wouldn’t it be a bit scandalous for a young lord to be having relations with his servant?” Yuuri moved to continue sorting the laundry. He hated when things made him think more than he wanted to. Victor accepted that Yuuri wanted to keep it a secret so he must have wanted it too. 

* * *

At least that is what Yuuri thought. Victor on the other hand was itching to tell every person he talked to. After Yuuri had helped Victor with his armor, Yuuri excused himself to go do laundry while Victor was in training. After Yakov arrived Victor had to hold himself back from blurting out how happy he was because Yuuri loved him back. 

But he had to hold himself back, because Yuuri wanted to keep it a secret. Yuuri had explained why he thought that was best, and truly Victor understood. Before he had brought Yuuri home he had talked about how his family would not allow him to marry an orphan. He had hoped things might be different now that they had all met him and seen how perfect Yuuri is. Yuuri was just looking out for Victor’s best interest, but that did not mean it was easy.

“I want you to work on your horseback today Victor,” Yakov shouted.

Victor walked back from the training ground over to the stables where the horses were kept. He ran into Georgi there and it was yet another struggle.

“Where’s your valet?” Georgi asked as he watched Victor putting all of the dressings on his horse himself.

“He had other work to do, I wasn’t expecting needing a horse,” Victor replied. He wanted to correct Georgi. ‘Yuuri, the love of my life, my reason, my motivation, that Yuuri’.

“Ah,” Georgi’s own valet finished tightening the saddle on his horse and helped him up.

“Where are you going?” Victor asked quickly before Georgi could get too far.

“I’m taking a couple knights to scout the perimeter of our land, we don’t want any other kidnappings” 

Victor nodded and Georgi trotted his horse out into the field. 

* * *

Horseback was not Victor’s favorite way to practice, he had no problem doing it but it always made him way more sore than the training was worth in his opinion.  He rode his horse back over to  the training ground where Chris was waiting already, trotting around the field. Training went smoothly. Victor as expected was sore after a couple hours of intense training on horseback. 

“I’ve got something to tell you,” Victor whispered to Chris as they dismounted their horses.

After the horses were put back safely in the stables and Yakov dismissed himself, telling Victor he had the rest of the day to himself, Chris waited for Victor to talk with him.

“Is everything alright? Where’s Yuuri?” Chris had a sudden concern in his voice. He had noticed Yuuri was not around while they were training but did not think much of it till right now. 

“Everything is great, Yuuri is just doing some other chores he will be back soon,” Victor dismissed as he tugged the straps of his armor loose. “You have to promise you won’t tell anyone?”

Victor added in that security, he figured it went without saying for Chris but he still needed the knights word. Sure Victor’s dad had accepted Yuuri without fuss as his servant, but if word spread that Victor was in love with an orphan. Who knows how his father would react then. Especially between the other dukedoms. Someday titles would not matter as much, but until that day he had to play it safe with Yuuri.

“You have my word, on my honor,” Chris was even more concerned now. It was not like Victor to ask these things of him.

“Yuuri and I are…. Uh together now,” Victor’s heart was pounding loudly, he could not believe he told someone. Chris was the most trustworthy person he knew besides Yuuri but after deciding to keep it a secret it felt like a big deal to share that with even one other person.

“Oh is that all? I thought you already were,” Chris sighed and began removing his own armor. “Anyone who looks at you two can tell that something is there.”

“Is it that obvious?” Victor asked, blushing. He knew he tended to keep his eyes on Yuuri longer than any normal human would keep their eyes on someone. But he did not realize others had taken notice.

“I don’t know, maybe not, but I also knew how you were feeling before you even brought him home,” Chris shrugged and Victor let out a frustrated groan.

“Come on now you’re just giving me mixed messages am I obvious or not?” Victor whined. Unaware of their new guest.

“Is what obvious?” Yuuri asked walking over to Victor to hang up the armor that he had begun dropping to the floor.

“Victor was asking if he was improving on horseback,” Chris lied for Victor. He figured if Victor was asking not to tell anyone that included Yuuri knowing that he knew. “I told him he was obviously improving, but then teased him about nearly falling off his horse when he swings his sword too hard.”

Victor looked at Chris mouthing thank you at him. 

“Ah, wish I could have seen that, it would be nice to see him not be perfect at everything for a change,” 

“Hey!” Victor turned around to see his valet giving him a devious smirk.

“He’s going to need a nice long soak after today’s practice,” Chris suggested, raising his eyebrows suggestively at Victor without Yuuri noticing.

“Yeah? I’ll run a bath, will you be joining him?” Yuuri asked, unaware of Chris’s eye gesture to Victor.

“Not today, I think I have other matters to attend back at my own estate,” Chris smiled coyly at the two of them before heading out. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Once they were alone Yuuri straightened up Victor’s shirt, grabbing it and pulling Victor in closer.

“So then, shall I run your bath, my lord?” Yuuri liked to sometimes throw Victor’s title at him. It seemed to be something he did not get addressed as often. Not as often as people would address Georgi with the title at least, even though as long as their father was still alive and working neither of them were the duke. Victor did not care that much if other people did not call him ‘lord’ but the sound of it coming from Yuuri was almost sensual. He leaned closer and pressed his lips gently to his valet’s forehead. 

“Moy solnyshko,” he whispered into Yuuri’s hair.

Yuuri pulled back to look up at Victor, it sounded like Victor had just spoken gibberish.

“It’s the old lost language of this land, it means ‘my sunshine’,” Victor brushed Yuuri’s hair out of his face, looking deep into those golden brown eyes reflecting the sunlight right now. 

“Oh,” Yuuri’s face flushed as he turned away. He liked the sound of that, ‘my sunshine’.

 

* * *

In the bathroom, Yuuri stripped Victor ever so carefully. Pulling the loose training shirt up and over his head. That would be easier if Victor was not a solid 4 inches taller than him, but he managed. He was always breathless at the sight of Victor’s bare chest, and was pleased to see that he had managed to leave some marks of his own on Victor’s chest last night. 

Careful hands pulled open Victor’s belt and pushed his pants to the ground. Stepping out of them, Victor slid his own thumbs into his underwear and removed the unwanted clothing so he could step into the warm water of the bath. He let out a long sigh as the heat from the water relaxed his muscles. Yuuri rolled up his sleeves and pulled the stool up to the side of the bath so he could sit comfortably.

“Yuuri,” Victor groaned and tilted his head back to look up at the other. “Can you come in here with me today?”

Yuuri’s eyes went wide for a moment, before he swallowed and nodded. There was no point in arguing, Victor would win. Besides it wasn’t like he also longed to get into the water beside him. The problem was Yuuri would have to undress, and Victor had never seen Yuuri naked before. 

He stood, backing up to the door he clicked the lock. Just as a precaution, incase Georgi or Mila decided to burst in to bother Victor. Yuuri began removing the suspenders off his shoulder before he caught Victor leaning on the edge of the tub staring at him. 

“Victor,” Yuuri flushed, his hands halting on the top buttons of his shirt. “Can you please close your eyes, or turn around at least?”

“You’re coming in the bath with me and you’re still worried about me seeing you naked?” Victor closed his eyes with a pout on his face.

“It’s not just seeing me naked, it’s watching me undress, it’s not very sexy or anything, it’s just awkward,” Yuuri quickly removed his shirt and pants as fast as he could, he did not want to keep Victor waiting long. 

“I don’t know, I’d think anything you do is sexy,” Victor smiled, but kept his eyes closed.

“Yeah right,” Yuuri stepped into the bath and sunk down into the water. Before Victor, Yuuri did not even know baths could be this big, it fit both of them comfortably and sitting flat Yuuri could still be submerged just under his shoulder. “You can open your eyes.”

Victor opened and looked at Yuuri, a soft smile on his face.

“You’re still wearing your glasses,” Victor reached forward and pulled them off Yuuri’s face delicately. Folding them up and sitting them on the stool where Yuuri would have been sitting. 

Yuuri returned the smile, he could not help but feel like Victor was taking care of him sometimes instead of the other way around. But either way it felt nice, to love and be loved in return. 

Victor looked suddenly as if he just remembered something and his face dropped.

“What?” Yuuri asked quickly.

“I should probably tell you something,” Victor started speaking and Yuuri felt his anxiety spike as his mind ran thinking of a billion things Victor could say next. “I told Chris about us.”

Yuuri sighed, it was always less than he expected but he could not control his anxiety. He had struggled with it ever since he can remember.

“Oh, that’s okay, I told Phichit too, or more so he bullied it out of me,” Yuuri admitted sheepishly. He appreciated that Victor felt the need to tell him. It was better this way, without secrets, well Yuuri still had one.

“He saw this,” Yuuri pointed at the mark on his collar bone.

“I did that didn’t I?” Victor smirked, he knew, and he was proud of it. He wished everyone knew Yuuri was his. Victor pulled Yuuri closer. They were so close, and so very naked. It made Yuuri’s heart accelerate. Well most things about Victor did that. But this was on a whole different level. 

“Relax Yuuri,” Victor leaned in and pressed his lips to Yuuri’s softly, waiting for the younger to okay the movement. 

And with that Yuuri melted back into Victor. Wrapping his arms around his neck to hold on as he opened his mouth to allow Victor access.

Oh yes, baths have certainly got a lot more interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive gone in a drawing kick and a writing slump so i only have 2 chapters in my storage left(chapter 8 is the last one i have done at this time). I'm probably going to take october off to stock up again and then do weekly updates again. or i can update as i finish them? i dont know, let me know what you want on here or on twitter @soskepticalfox where i post my art and will also say when i update.  
> thanks for reading!  
> (btw i do have this entire plotline outlined i just have to write it, so there is an ending goal in mind)


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